Invasion Assistance
by Kamiro G.S
Summary: The Horde has not been able to conquer Etheria int the many decades they had been there, even with their recent victories. Hordack has a stroke of luck when he is able to send a communication outside Despondos, but he is not calling the Horde. Instead, he calls for somebody who can reach Desponos, a group of mercenaries. Led by the Duchess Bones... (Season 2 onwards AU)


Catra was going about her day as normal, mobilize troops, oversee war plans. It was just as normal and dull as the rest of the days. That was until a soldier ran up to her with a message.

"Force Captain Catra!" the grunt saluted as he approached, "Lord Hordack has requested that you report to him immediately."

Well, this got interesting. Why did Hordack want her just out of the blue? "Uh, yeah, sure. Tell him I'll finish with these resource movements and I'll be there."

"Sorry mam, but he requests your presence, now" The soldier spoke grimly.

"Okay then, then find Scorpia and tell her to finish the resource movements," Catra said, handing the grunt her tablet and beginning to walk to Hordack's sanctum.

* * *

When Catra entered Hordack's Sanctum, there was something… Different. Hordack was not in his seat *coughthronecough*, but instead standing and talking to somebody. AS Catra climbed further up the steps she got a better look at this somebody. It was a woman, maybe a head taller than herself, with deep purple hair that had bright orange tips on the right side. She wore shiny black armour that had a white rectangle on each of the breastplates, one with a silhouette of a skull in it, the other a spade. Nothing similar to Horde armour in the slightest. Her skin was a pale blue, with a darker blue imitating freckles. She wore a large pair of sunglasses that covered a good deal of her face. Catra reached the top and knelt down.

"You wished to see me Lord Hordack?" Catra asked, looking up at her leader.

Hordack, uncharacteristically, smiled devilishly. "Yes, Force Captain Catra. I have recently acquired the means to access… outside assistance, in our war with the princesses. Allow me to introduce to you the Duchess Bones, Angela." He motioned to the woman to his left.

"Hey kid," the woman said, smirking at Catra. Catra frowned.

"But Lord Hordack, I have been…"

"This is not about what you have and haven't been, Force Captain Catra," Hordack interrupted Catra, "This is about gaining some valuable assistance in this war." He snarled.

"Yes sir. May I ask, who is this assistance?" Catra asked, frowning.

Hordack scoffed. "Duchess Bones…"

"Please, Hordack, Call me Angela." Angela smiled.

"…Angela here is in charge of a large band of mercenaries. In exchange for payment on our half, she will be willing to spare some of her forces to ally here with us."

Catra was shocked, to say the least. "Sir! That is completely unfavourable for the Horde! I mean, how big can these mercenaries be if we have never encountered them before?"

"That is because they come from… elsewhere." Hordack explained, kind of.

Catra's eyes narrowed. "Where?" she asked suspiciously.

"That is none of your concern!" Hordack said as he abruptly stood up. He took a breath and then continued. "I have called you here to brief Angela and her personal squad about our, pest problem. Tell them what they want, without questions, and the rest of her army will arrive tomorrow." Hordack bore his gaze into Catra. "Do I make myself clear?"

Catra looked away. "Yes, Lord Hordack." She answered.

* * *

Catra was uncomfortable with Angela, to say the least. Really, what was a band of mercenaries going to do for them that they couldn't already do? Catra lead her down the hall after hall until they reached the room where Angela had told Catra where the rest of her squad was.

"So," Catra said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "You mercs got a name?"

"Yeah, we're the Bones' Mercenary Deck. Please ta' meet ya." Angela smirked.

"Cool. So, where do you come from?"

"Me personally, or the Deck?" Angela asked, her voice giving not conveying any confusion on the question.

"Your mercs," Catra replied bluntly.

"Oh, from all over really. We take just about anybody who wants to join up, bandits, outlaws, everyday people looking for some adventurers, heroes…" Angela's sunglass-covered face turned to Catra. "…even deserters."

Catra narrowed her eyes as she stared at Angela's smiling face. They finally reached the room that had three other… people, in it. All of them wore the same armour as Angela, but only had one rectangle with a spade silhouette, and they all had some sort of reflective eyewear.

The first reminded her a lot of Scorpia. He was large and muscular, had short, black hair, wore circular reflective glasses, but the distinguishing feature was his second set of arms.

The next was a boy around her age and height, with spiky yellow hair and a set of whiskers on each cheek. He wore a pair of steampunk-like goggles, and his armour was slightly different, sporting short black cylinders on the vambraces, and larger gauntlets.

The last one was very short, only a few feet tall. She had yellow skin, pointy ears, a rat-like tail and a mop of purely red hair. She wore welder's glasses, had a toothpick in her mouth and a gas mask hanging around her neck.

"Kid, allow me to introduce to you; My tactician and deputy, Seth." Angela patted the four-armed man. "The best techie to ever be, Spriggs," She nodded to the yellow-skinned girl.

"You give me more credit than I'm worth Boss." Spriggs flashes a spiky-toothed grin.

"And finally, we have our weapons specialist and newest in the squad, Sparky."

The boy sighed. "My name is Max." He extended his hand to Catra. Catra eyed him up and down and wearily shook his hand.

"Now," Angela clapped her hands together, "We usually we have one more, but she's preparing the troops for transport here. So, we'll just have to do without her." Angela then took a seat, the other three following suit. "So, give us the rundown."

Catra raised an eyebrow. "Really? You'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the war."

Angela shrugged. "I find it more professional if we start from the beginning. Gives a better idea of how to do our jobs."

"Well, okay then," Catra said as she picked up a tablet and connected it to the screen behind her. "For decades now, the Horde has been waging war against the princesses and other parts of the planet in an attempt to conquer Etheria."

"So, I take it that that's not going to well?" Seth asked.

"Not ideal, but we have been taking more and more ground over the years. The real problem is the princesses. They use magical powers to defend their territories and obliterate Horde forces. Recently, they have gained a new alley, She-Ra."

Angela noticed that Catra grimaced as she mentioned the name. Interesting.

"We have secured more than several of their vital-"

"Hold on a second." Angela interrupted. "I'd like to know more about this… She-Ra."

"She's just another princess, albeit somewhat more powerful," Catra answered, feeling uneasy.

"So, they just make a new princess, a new princess with birth, or a new kingdom. Have there been any new kingdoms to conquer yet?"

"No, but-"

"Then how does this new princess just pop out of the blue then?" Angela asked. She could see the sweat dripping down Catra's forehead. She was cracking.

"She was just another person, but she found a shiny magic sword and became She-Ra," Catra answered, a little too quickly. Angela stared into Catra's eyes for a long moment. At least, Catra thought she was, it was hard to tell with those sunglasses.

"Okay. Please continue." Angela said, leaning back. Catra secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, so…"

* * *

Catra Awoke in her bed the next day. The briefing she had given to those four mercenaries was mentally exhausting. She never wanted to think about it again. Catra exited her bed and began walking to the armoury for her near-daily weapon stocktake. She wandered along the hallways as normal, until something outside caught her eye. She walked over to the window and her jaw dropped. There, floating over the Fright Zone, was a massive… Thing! It was black with blue glowing highlights and had large round holes in the bottom that were emitting a violet light. It was long and sleek, obviously a kind of transport, but other than that, it was a mystery.

"What the heck is that…" Catra asked herself.

"Oh, yeah, it's that Duchess' ship. Or something." Scorpia answered.

"Ah!" Catra jumped out of shock, "Scorpia! What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, Entrapta and I were told to come and find you," Scorpia answered. Just then, Entrapta appeared and shoved Catra out of the way so she could look at the ship.

"Ohhhh! It's so amazing!" Entrapta exclaimed, "The sheer level of technology needed to achieve this is inconceivable! I must study it!" Entrapta said as she began to drool.

"Yo! Cat-girl!" a voice called from down the hall. Catra growled at the nickname and turned, ready to julienne the voice's owner. However, it was the yellow-haired boy from the day before, along with the short girl, both now without glasses. The boy's eyes were a piercing blue, whilst the girl had slit pupils and pink eyes. Catra didn't remember their names.

"The name's Catra" Catra corrected, voice teeming with venom. The boy held his hands out in front of him.

"Heh, sorry. I just never caught your name yesterday and wanted to get your attention. Plus, I got half the name right, didn't I?" the boy chuckled. Catra stared at him, irritably.

"What do you want?" Catra asked already tired of the conversation.

The girl pressed a button on her wrist that brought up a holographic screen, which Entrapta stared at in awe. "Boss wanted us to go over a few things with you concerning our army, and since you are the main manager of the Horde's combat forces, it seemed reasonable to talk to you and your… Commanders." She glanced to Scorpia and Entrapta before clearing her throat and looked back at the screen. "The Horde may not have, obtain, or experiment on or with any BMD technology, weaponry or any sort of previously undiscovered advancements. And for some reason it says: 'This especially applies to Horde Technician Entrapta."

Catra heard a groan from Entrapta behind her. "What do you mean we can't use your tech?! We hired you to help us!" Catra snapped angrily.

"No, you hired us to fight with you. If you want to buy tech, another contract will be required." The girl waved the question off before proceeding. "This brings me to the next point: BMD Troops will work in conjunction with Horde forces, but do not have to take orders from them. We work for the Duchess, not Hordack." She read out to Catra.

Great. Not only would they not help the Horde technologically, but they weren't taking orders from them either.

"Is there anything else?" Catra asked with a growl.

"I just have to notify you on a hand going out for enemy reconnaissance. You are now notified." The girl told Catra smugly.

"Hand?" Scorpia asked, confused.

The boy spoke up. "Oh, yeah. As a mercenary deck, we use card terms to determine ranks, and call a team of soldiers a 'Hand', like you would in a game of cards." He explained.

"Tell me when they're departing so we can send Horde reinforcements," Catra said as she made to leave.

"Oh, that won't be necessary." The girl said. "They will be quite capable, and also, if we look up at our mothership, The Crypt, they'll be leaving just about now."

The three Horde soldiers looked up at the mothership, just in time to see a ship fly out of the large opening in the side.

The boy smiled. "We hope you will be satisfied with your Bone's Mercenary Deck experience..."


End file.
